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 Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:36 pm
Madison was walking quickly because he wanted to get to a private room as quickly as possible. He didn’t need anyone hovering around or being nosey when he was trying to do his job as a doctor! “In here-- get the ******** out!” Madison had opened the door to what he knew was a quiet sitting room, but someone was already inside just sitting around and reading. The nerve! He had more important things to do than try to find a room that no one was using. “Oh shut up, go file a complaint with the Council. Yeah yeah, so rude. <******** off--” he mocked after the man mumbling his complaints as he begrudgingly vacated the room that Madison wanted to use. So what if he was a mature adult? He absolutely made faces at the man when he thought to glare at them over his shoulder, likely going directly to Lukas at the front desk to complain. That wasn’t Madison’s fault, and it wasn’t as though the Council could do anything about him unless they all wanted to be out of a doctor. Once the room was empty and quiet and the door was shut behind himself and Marius, Madison immediately turned to place his hands on Marius’ face, making him tilt his head back so he could examine his eyes and check for any injuries. He allowed himself to look momentarily panicked over the thought of Marius being caught up in some kind of scuffle, but when he didn’t see immediate reasons to be concerned, he let go and gestured to the couch. “Let me check you over,” he insisted, reaching into his shoulder bag for a stethoscope. “How’s your breathing? Have you taken your medicine yet today?” He wasn’t trying to fuss! He was just checking on his patient!
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:43 pm
Marius humored Madison’s fussing, and even appreciated it to some degree. “You’re so cranky, we could have gone to another room,” he mused, but Madison–despite all his experience and skill–was probably just barely keeping things together anymore.
He didn’t recognize whoever had been using the room before so they probably weren’t too important. If Madison wanted them gone, fast, he knew how to push the right buttons.
“My stomach was agreeable this morning, I was able to take everything with breakfast. My breathing’s–”
He could have lied, but what was the point. Madison was a doctor, and he’d only get more ornery if Marius didn’t tell him everything. He was a good liar, but he wasn’t doing anyone any favors by sweeping things under the rug.
“Feels like pins and needles again, like I drank hot coffee and it spilled into my lungs and keeps coming back up. When I breathe too deep, it hurts my eyes. I’m not getting deep breaths, I almost passed out before and it’s still a little fifty-fifty.” He paused, and then corrected, “No, sixty-forty, maybe closer to seventy-thirty, now. I’m feeling better. It’s probably adrenaline. We ran a lot.” More than he was supposed to, Madison had warned him about overexerting himself, but he thought he could probably get away with it given the circumstances. It wasn’t like he’d done it for fun.
He sat down on the couch, upright and ready for whatever checkup Madison wanted to give. He’d done enough of these that he knew what to expect and was trying to make it easy on him.
“I stayed up late last night, too. That’s probably why I look so bad. I just had a lot of things I was working on. I’ll feel better when Percy’s okay, I think I’m too stressed to calm down. How are you doing?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:23 pm
There would have absolutely been no point in lying. Madison would have known the moment he put the stethoscope to Marius’ chest that he wasn’t breathing properly. He didn’t bother warming it up, nor did he warn Marius that he was going to shove the flat metal piece down his shirt to check his heart and lungs. He didn’t say anything for a few long moments, instead focusing on Marius’s vitals. And since they had done this so often, he knew he didn’t have to tell Marius when to breathe in and out. “Oh, I’m fine. Fantastic,” Madison scoffed sarcastically. “I agreed that you could go to Sessrumnir to keep you out of trouble, not put your life at risk,” he seethed, aggressively shoving his no longer needed stethoscope back into his bag, and instead pulled out a hair brush so he could once again fuss over Marius by brushing some of his bangs out of his face. “Unless whoever did this are absolute idiots and want a war, they’ll keep him alive. I’m sure Devyn will rescue his damsel and everything will go back to the way it was -- with Devyn running around trying to kiss up to people who don’t actually matter.” He huffed then, as a way of trying to keep himself from complaining further. He had a lot of strong opinions and feelings about the situation. Madison frowned at Marius for another long moment, and then reached out to grab hold of his cheeks again to tilt his head forward this time. He pressed a kiss against the top of his now neatly brushed hair and then sighed. “You did good coming back here. We’ll fix things.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:03 am
Marius exhaled slowly to help ease his nerves. He nodded because it only made sense to agree–what was he going to do, argue with Madison that everything had gone to s**t and was awful and they were going to fail and lose Percy, and Sessrumnrir, and Devyn, and–
No, obviously not. He’d rather believe that things were going to be okay. He’d already seen them accomplish impossible tasks together.
He didn’t resent Madison for sticking that cold stethoscope on his chest; he tolerated it and Madison’s ever discouraging bedside manner. He could be nice when he wanted to, like right now. When no one was looking, and knowing no one would believe Marius if he tried to tell them it had ever even happened this way.
“Oh, good. Because I was just about to say that Devyn might not have to run around and do all this work if you’d all let me tell the truth.” He would have, in a heartbeat, but he was only teasing Madison now. He’d probably worked the hardest to keep Marius alive. Well, maybe second hardest. Percy had put in a lot of work to make sure Devyn didn’t kill him.
“Was my hair that bad?” he asked, but Madison must have known him well enough already to bring it. It wasn’t like he carried that around for every patient. Madison might have played the role of callous doctor when he did things like put that cold metal on Marius’ bare skin but Marius hadn’t missed how kindly Madison then brushed his hair. “Thank you.”
A bit for the brushing, but mostly for telling him that he did the right thing. Marius was still grappling with it, and despite how much he pushed himself he did recognize that this was well-beyond his capabilities. No matter how frustrating it was to feel so useless.
Practically speaking, he and Celyn had played some role–they’d gotten help. It just felt useless, and probably would continue until they got news that Percy was okay.
“Whoever did it might be idiots,” he sighed. “I guess the Council there thinks they might have been expelled from Sessrumnir. Percy chased us off before I could get any more information, though. They picked such a bad day to attack. I just got Percy to agree to let me help, too. He’s been working himself to the bone trying to figure out how to help Devyn. Now Percy’s just going to have even more work. And Devyn is, too.”
Marius didn’t regret what he did, if only because Villefort was getting far more help than he could have imagined. He did feel bad that Devyn and Percy had to pick up the pieces. If he’d known what he did now back when he first found Devyn in the bog, he liked to think he would have done things differently, but Marius didn’t like to think of hypotheticals like that when he couldn’t change the past. He’d learn from it. He’d trust in those two, and their allies.
Even those he hardly knew.
A watery cough scratched up Marius’ throat. It was fairly tame and not particularly disorienting, but he coughed into his elbow for a second or two before he cleared his throat and asked, “Who is Lucien?”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:21 am
“Your hair is always bad,” Madison scoffed but gently brushed it with his fingers before giving Marius his space again. He followed with a shrug. “It’s not your fault. You haven’t had proper nutrition for many years. It’ll look better in time,” he promised, reaching up to then brush his fingers through his own hair. It was as soft and silky as it looked, and Madison clearly took time to make sure it was well kept, despite not particularly caring about the rest of his appearance. He shrugged again before Marius could develop ideas that he was speaking from experience. He didn’t bother with more than rolling his eyes as Marius suggested telling the truth. That would do no one any favors except possibly damage Devyn’s reputation even more. But there was too much to think about than what else they could have done. “Nothing that’s happening now is your fault,” Madison insisted, very matter-of-factly. “Even before with--” he made a vague gesture in the air, “-- all that was really your fault. Devyn and Percy make their own decisions, and they’ve got people helping them. You shouldn’t have to torment yourself by worrying about them when they do it to themselves. Well, maybe not whatever is going on with Sessrumnir right now, but you’ve already done your part.” As for Lucien, Madison huffed and rolled his eyes. “He’s a prissy know-it-all from a place called Mau. Apparently they hold the sole ability to help Senshi awaken. He showed up when Devyn was a kid and unlocked his power as Sailor Alastor. Then he leaves for a while and comes back whenever he feels like it, like he owns the place, claiming he has a bond or something with Devyn. Load of bullshit if you ask me.” Not that Madison had any proof of it being the truth or not, except for what both Lucien and Devyn said, but that didn’t matter. How his eyes narrowed on Marius. “Who is Celyn? Other than being from Sessrumnir. Are you sure you can trust him? It’s those innocent types you have to keep an eye on.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 8:40 am
Marius snorted when Madison gave him a moment to answer. He’d held it in for long enough. “He’s just a scholar at Sessrumnir. We have some classes together but I don’t think we’ve ever spoken before today. I only learned his name from Percy just before things got bad. I don’t know if I can trust him or not. But it wouldn’t have been fair to leave him there with everything happening. His grandfather’s on the Council, so maybe that counts for something. Be nice to him, please,” he said, and gave Madison a look.
“People on Sessrumnir don’t have any resistance to you and he’s scared. He’ll probably never be back to Alastor and I already threatened him to secrecy.”
Madison was cute, worrying as much as he did. Marius reached up to smooth his own hair, which was still brittle and stubborn. “Devyn gave me some hair oil I’m supposed to be using. Between the two of you, I’m sure I’ll have hair as nice as yours soon enough.” Marius really hadn’t spent enough time in front of a mirror to care, but he’d already learned how much weight was put on appearances and he supposed he was healthy enough that he should start trying a little harder. He was still getting some use out of looking pathetic though, so small steps.
He was still going to worry, and he was still going to torment himself. At least until he found a way to make Percy and Devyn’s lives easier. He wished he could get them back to–or at least close to–how things were before he came into their lives.
“About Lucien, though. He’s been polite, but I’ve known him for less time than I’ve known Celyn. He’s trustworthy?” he asked, and assumed it was so, but he trusted Madison so that carried more weight than his own intuition. And, though he didn’t ask, Marius wondered if there was anything he should be cautious about. As with most people close to Devyn–few as there were–they were protective of him. So, he wanted to know what to expect when the truth about Villefort came to light.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 8:57 am
Madison sniffed indignantly, like he wasn’t sure he believed Marius, but didn’t push the issue. “I’m nice!” he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest in protest. “Okay, I’m not always that nice, but I haven’t been mean to the kid! Not yet at least. I will if he deserves it!” It was nice that Devyn gave Marius some hair oil, but Madison didn’t point out how it would have likely helped Devyn more to keep Marius looking like some frumpy kid who couldn’t take care of himself. Madison couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Devyn’s head when he went out of his way to give something like oil for his hair to Marius. “Lucien is loyal to Devyn,” Madison shrugged, but he didn’t say it like it was a bad thing. Just a fact. “He has the same… temperament as Atrius can. Maybe not as many bright smiles, but he’s annoyingly polite and doesn’t seem like he wants to cause any trouble. He obnoxiously likes to stand around and observe things. And tinker with his little toys. But if Devyn told him to jump, you can be sure that he would.” Again, Madison’s voice didn’t indicate that there was anything bad about that. Maybe he was a little irritated that someone was so close to Devyn and yet disappeared for months-- sometimes years at a time. Yet he was always helpful when he showed up. “Yeah… if you need something, he’s trustworthy. Devyn’s decision was to adopt you, so he’ll probably act like that was his decision as well. So annoying.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 9:08 am
Maybe Madison was jealous that Lucien had some innate bond with Devyn. He didn’t usually seem like he was annoyed by competent people, so there was probably more to it than Marius understood. He stored the questions or later, but now wasn’t the best time to pester Madison.
Marius almost laughed. If he wasn’t thinking about Percy’s well being, he might have.
He didn’t correct that it was closer to a fake adoption than a real one; Marius had been taking care of himself for so long that it wasn’t like he needed parents. And, he still held the memories of his mother and father too close to his heart to ever think about replacing them.
So much of his life was a performance. He didn’t know if he’d always have the strength to keep up appearances. Even now, he found himself slumping back against the couch for a brief reprieve. He rubbed at his eyes. They were sore, mostly from dust, and coughing, and pollen, and sun. His muscles were screaming to just stop moving.
“His ‘little toy’ seemed pretty neat. Especially if it can reach Devyn so quickly.”
He’d folded the parasol up and tapped the tip of it on the floor before he gave up and just laid it down. He was too tired to maintain it. “I have a headache. It might be a migraine by tonight. Do you have anything I can take to stop that? I don’t want to be out of commission. After all this sorts out, I still want to help Percy so he can take it easy. And Devyn might need help, too.” Not that he anticipated Devyn was going to let him meddle in any of his affairs, but between Atrius and the Council, he’d been fairly effective at getting himself assigned some extra tasks to do what he could.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 9:11 am
Madison let out a little sigh and looked at Marius like he wished he could make everything better for him. He was just so young and forced into a world that he didn’t have any real say in. He’d been fighting for survival for so long, and he was so stupidly selfless. “Here,” Madison said as he dug through his bag again. He pulled out a container with an assortment of pills and jars with liquid medicine. From it he extracted two small white ones and handed them to Marius. “Take one right before you go to sleep, and you can probably take one now to try and keep it controlled. I’ll see if there’s any fruit that would be good for you to eat in the meantime. And some kinds of fish, if you can stomach it,” he said, although it sounded like he was just thinking out loud. “I know you’re going to try and help no matter what I tell you. I just need you to promise that you’ll… think about how you’re going to give me a heart attack if you don’t want to think about yourself!” he practically pouted with his arms over his chest once the medicine was back in his bag. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as though their conversation would go on much longer. There was a knock at the door.
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